NZ vs BAN | 1st T20I: Devon Conway, Ish Sodhi power Blackcaps' decimation of Bangla Tigers

New Zealand overhauled Bangladesh by 66 runs in the first game of the T20I series at the Seddon Park in Hamilton. The comprehensive victory was achieved by clinical performances in both batting and bowling departments. 

Devon Conway led a power-packed batting performance to set a humungous target of 211 runs to the touring Bangladesh side and then they were trounced by equally destructive bowling performances.

Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Mohammad Naim were all on their way to give their side a near-perfect start in a big chasing effort before Blackcaps stand-in captain Tim Southee found extra bounce off the surface. The ball got big on him in an attempt of a flick and the catch was plucked by Ish Sodhi in the inner circle to give Bangladesh their first setback.

Soumya Sarkar’s promotion to the number three continued and both he and Naim pulled out superb drives through the off side to get a move on. Naim was looking more dangerous than Sarkar and Southee called his trump card with pace—Lockie Ferguson. He was hit over the top as well but recovered on the very next ball to trap the left-hander in front of the stumps.

The wicket of Naim proved to be the turning point as Bangladesh started to lose wickets in clusters and the slide for the tourists could not be prevented. 

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi continued his golden run on New Zealand pitches as he picked up two huge wickets in his very first over. At the start of his over, Sarkar was deceived by a wrong’un while Mohammad Mithun could resist the temptation of getting to the top of the leg spinner. However, he played across the line only to find his stumps rattled and Bangladesh’s chasing efforts were facing turbulence even before the take-off.

With the first four wickets down for nothing, the onus was on Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain to resurrect Bangladesh along with the task of keeping the required run rate in control. They failed to fulfil the first task as Mahmudullah became the third victim of the day for Sodhi. He attempted to cut a ball that was too fuller in length for a cut shot, and also was too close to him.

The wicket of Mahmudullah was all but over for Bangladesh spirit and it was further dampened by the lack of clarity in Mahedi Hasan’s head. Unsure of the variations of the leg spinner, Mahedi played him from the crease and the ball ricocheted off his bat and pad to hit the stumps.

The match would have been done and dusted the next over if Guptill would have clung on to an easy chance presented by Afif off the bowling of Ferguson. The left-hander made the most of the dropped chance and provided a solitary bit of counterattack from the tourists batting order.

Mohammad Saifuddin played a subdued innings from the other end to bring Bangladesh towards some sort of respectability. The target, however, went too far ahead of their reach and when Ferguson came back to hit Afif’s stumps, it was a definite death rattle for the tourists in the first game of the series.

Earlier in the day, Tim Southee won the toss and banked on his batsmen to put pressure on the tourists.

Martin Guptill was partnered by another young sensation in Fin Allen while Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah also banked on a debutant Nasum Ahmed to come good against the Blackcaps right-handed openers. He started with a tight line to Guptill and castled Allen with a straighter one on the last ball of his very first over in his T20I career to win the first round of the battle of debutants.

But his jubilation did not last long as Guptill was ready having studied his line of attack. The experienced right-hander was standing around his leg stump to give himself room against incoming deliveries and lifted him over the top to start off New Zealand’s attempt of posting a big total.

After Guptill’s attempt to set the tone, it was now Devon Conway’s chance to open up his shoulders and Shoriful Islam became his first victim of the day. Three boundaries in the first over and Blackcaps were up and running at the Seddon Park.

Both Guptill and Conway were finding it easier against pacers and Mahmudullah went back to his left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed. The debutant repaid the faith once again as Guptill was foxed by a slower and wider delivery that he could hit only as far as to long-off.

Bangladesh would have expected some respite after Guptill’s wicket but the New Zealand side have now become an ultra-aggressive one and every batsman go at the bowler’s irrespective of situations.

The next man in Will Young was equally explosive to Guptill if not more. Three overs after Guptill’s fall yielded 34 runs as the Young- Conway started putting Bangladesh bowlers to the sword.

Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan provided some control to Mahmudullah but the pair was more dynamic than the bowling attack as runs started flowing from all bowlers through the latter phase of the innings.

Will Young reached an impressive half-century from 28 balls on the back of pure hitting skills. He could not stretch his innings for longer and perished straight after the milestone.

For New Zealand though, there was no dearth of explosive batsmen the next man in Glenn Phillips started tonking the ball from the word go. At the other end, Conway carried on his merry way and kept on finding boundaries at regular intervals.

Sadly for him, the balls were too less in number to complete a century, but he smashed Mustafizur Rahman for four fours in the last over to take the game completely out of Bangladesh’s grasp.

Bangladesh have lost the ODI series 0-3 and the start to the T20I series was far away from their expectations. They missed the services of senior trios of Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib al Hasan, and Tamim Iqbal but they would be honest to admit that youngsters have failed to capitalise on opportunities.